A number of non-invasive imaging approaches are known and are presently in use. One such type of system is based upon the detection of X-rays or other radiation that has passed through a volume of interest. The radiation traverses the volume, and whatever materials occupy the volume, and impact a film or a digital detector. In medical diagnostic contexts, for example, such systems may be used to visualize internal tissues and diagnose patient ailments. In other contexts, parts, baggage, parcels, and other materials may be imaged to assess their contents or for other purposes, such as for quality review in a manufacturing context.
Increasingly, such non-invasive imaging or inspection systems use digital circuitry, such as solid-state detectors, for detecting the radiation of interest. Such solid-state detectors may generate electrical signals indicative of the incident radiation on the detector, which in turn is indicative of the attenuation or scatter of the radiation along different ray paths through the imaged volume. The generated signals may in turn be processed to reconstruct images of the subject or object of interest within the volume, including internal features of an object or patient within the imaged volume.
Such solid-state or digital detectors may be portable and may be used in place of older detection systems (including film based detection systems) as a means of upgrading an existing system. In addition, in newer systems, a variety of portable detectors may be provided and used interchangeably with different systems, such that no one detector is fixed to or dedicated for use with a particular imaging system.
One drawback to a detector being portable and transportable is that the detector becomes subject to being dropped or damaged while being moved about a facility or between inspection or imaging locations. Further, to the extent that a portable digital detector is designed as a replacement for an existing detector implementation, the portable digital detector may be designed to conform to a form-factor or industry standard size associated with the existing detection scheme. In such a context, the space available within the detector to provide shock absorption or other physical protection of internal components may be limited due to adherence to the standardized size or shape of detector system being replaced.